My Kind of Officer

I read about this over at CDR Salamander. Captain Conner is definitely my kind of officer.

His base newsletter, "The Lighthouse", has a column called "Ask the Captain!". In the January edition Captain Conner was faced with one of the most self-righteous critters out there (with a few notable exceptions), the officer's wife. Here's the question for the captain:

What is the deal with the gate guards not surrendering salutes to officer’s vehicles? I don’t think an admiral’s wife or your wife would appreciate that either. We’ve worked hard to get here and should be recognized. They learned to recognize your vehicles. On every base I’ve been on they have a sign WE RENDER SALUTES PROUDLY. Here they work on trying not to salute the vehicle if the active duty member is not present. Isn’t it by UCMJ code they are supposed to render a salute to an officer? The vehicle has a sticker so why do they not (salute) whether or not the active duty member is present or not? Fill me in!! DO THEY NOT TRAIN THESE PEOPLE ANY MORE?? If not, I see more and more laxness going on in this military. A CWO wife.

If I had been the captain, I'm not sure I would have even attempted a response, maybe gone for something safer, say, like when they were going to get Diet Dr Pepper in the mess hall. But soldier that he his, he took this one on. Here's the beginning of his response:

Wow. That’s quite a sense of entitlement you have. Are you sure a salute is sufficient? Perhaps a curtsy or a genuflect would be more appropriate? We could have one sentry prostrate himself before you while the other fetches some oats for that high horse you’re riding.

First, the irony of addressing what you perceive to be an issue of respect in such a disrespectful tone is not lost. Secondly, since you specifically brought her into the dialogue, my wife thinks your question indicates a regrettably narrow perspective. Third, yes, we have training which encompasses many things for which a post sentry is responsible and accountable, primarily focused on force protection, anti-terrorism, law enforcement, defense of critical assets and infrastructure, and the use of lethal force. But thanks for asking. Fourth, if you consider standing a post 65-70 hours a week as “laxness,” then I invite you to put on your winter coat and go stand on the asphalt in front of your house for four hours holding your vacuum cleaner when the temperature reaches 85 degrees. That will give you some very small sense of what it is like to man a post, without of course the lethal responsibility.

He goes on to correct her - salutes are "rendered", not "surrendered" - and gives a crystal clear thumbnail sketch of the history of the salute.

Like so many things that I am not and never was, this is probably why I was never an officer.